Why every Brownie should have a camp blanket

On this edition of Throwback Thursday, we’re revisiting a blog post on favourite topic – camp blankets!

When I became a Brownie leader, right before we went to camp, I always brought my camp blanket to a meeting. This was a great way to start a conversation with the girls about camp, WAGGGS (I have several international crests and scarves on my blanket) and to get them excited about moving up to Guides, Pathfinders, Rangers and hopefully into being a Brown Owl one day. It was a great tool because the girls could see and feel things; it wasn’t just me talking to them about it.

After a year or two of noticing that the girls (and parents) didn’t totally understand the difference between a program badge and a crest, I started to bring the blanket out earlier in the year. And then I decided that the girls should have their own camp blankets to bring to camp that year.

I did what every good, young leader does – I enlisted my mom! She was never a Girl Guide or a leader, and truthfully my weekly Unit meetings were as much a break for me as they were for her! But she has always helped out whenever I’ve asked, enjoying her time with my Unit. My mom is super crafty, a gene that I can say is not hereditary. And I’m guessing since it wasn’t an activity that involved making me a FOURTH camp blanket, she was on board.

As the parents dropped off their girls for the first night, I had my blanket out, and my plan hatched. I explained that we would be doing this, working on it throughout the year, and the approximate costs. (What I lack in arts and crafts DNA, I more than make up for in bargain hunting.) In the end, it was no more than $10 per girl for their blanket.

We opted for a micro-fleece material because it’s lightweight, and we didn’t need to finish the edge. We cut a hole in the middle to make it into a poncho, and generally cut it to the size the girls could grow into and take onto Guides.

There are several ways that you can turn a camp blanket into program work:

• Arrange to have a meeting at the fabric store
• Have a ‘learn to sew’ night once the blankets are ready
• Do any number of the challenges on the Girl Guides of Canada website to earn a new crest for their blanket

I hope this helps you create camp blankets with your girls. As many commentators said on the last post, our blankets are very important to us – let’s make sure the next wave of girls feel the same way!

By guest blogger Guider Sarah of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Check out her own blog Sarah Smells the Roses.